Visiting student is like study abroad where you spend a semester or two of 3L at another law school. You still end up with your home law school's diploma, and it's usually open admissions subject to space availability.

im_blue wrote:Visiting student is like study abroad where you spend a semester or two of 3L at another law school. You still end up with your home law school's diploma, and it's usually open admissions subject to space availability.

Is it really completely noncompetitive at top schools? That would surprise me, actually.

Generally it's harder to get away from your school than to get visiting student status at another. The school you visit gets your tuition and almost no responsibility for you, while the school you graduate from gets no money. It's usually something for married law students who want to move closer to their spouse.

im_blue wrote:Visiting student is like study abroad where you spend a semester or two of 3L at another law school. You still end up with your home law school's diploma, and it's usually open admissions subject to space availability.

Is it really completely noncompetitive at top schools? That would surprise me, actually.

This probably varies by school - it's competitive in the sense that there are always more applicants than they can take, but many law schools seem to primarily consider compelling personal circumstances rather than grades, e.g.:

Stanford: "Our program for visiting, or non-matriculating, students at Stanford Law School is administered with the intent of aiding students with extenuating or compelling personal circumstances that make studying at Stanford Law School a necessity. Our program is not designed to accommodate students wishing to take advantage of a particular course of study offered here or to take advantage of studying with a particular faculty member."http://www.law.stanford.edu/program/deg ... g_program/

Berkeley: "The School of Law admits a few special status students who study at Berkeley Law for a year but who receive their law degrees from their school of origin. Special status admission is available to students who have completed two years of high-quality work at another law school and who have demonstrated a compelling need to spend their third year at Berkeley. Special status applicants should discuss their compelling need to attend in their personal statements. Admission to special status is not granted to fulfill individual academic interests."http://www.law.berkeley.edu/43.htm#SpecialStatus

Michigan: "A limited number of visitors with compelling personal or academic reasons for attending Michigan will be admitted to the fall and winter terms. We also consider an applicant's previous law school performance in assessing how he or she will integrate into the Michigan Law School Community."http://www.law.umich.edu/prospectivestu ... dents.aspx